


Top 20 Most Common Bird in Fillmore
Bringing together a compelling blend of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, Fillmore hosts a rich variety of birds. With fascinating ecological features like verdant mountains, lush valleys, and thriving wetlands, the area provides a vibrant stage for the iconic 20 commonly sighted bird species. From the dazzling finches to elegant egrets, these avian inhabitants reflect the ecological abundance and diversity Fillmore burgeons with.

Most Common Bird

1. House Finch
Frequent in urban environments and human-created habitats such as parks and backyards, the little house Finch is known for its loud but pleasant, cheerful singing. It feeds on the ground, mostly on seeds, berries, and other plant material. This bird is highly sociable and very adaptable. It often visits feeders.

2. American Crow
The american Crow is a big black bird that can be found in forests, fields, river groves, and among human habitations. Interestingly, it is known to stand atop ant hills and allow ants to climb onto its feathers; this apparently discharges their formic acid and makes them more palatable for the crow to eat. Sadly, american Crow numbers have been substantially affected by the West Nile virus in North America. Infected birds die from West Nile in less than a week.

3. Lesser Goldfinch
A common visitor of birdhouses or anywhere with birdseed, the lesser Goldfinch is a small, notch-tailed bird that enjoys gardens and open wooded areas. Its size has made it commonly overlooked, but listen out for its charming, chiming song. Social birds, they are often seen in large groups of hundreds traveling together at a time.

4. Black Phoebe
Often spotted near creeks and ponds after you hear its sharp, whistling call, the small, plump black Phoebe is a sooty gray. Look for its white belly and squared tail to properly identify it. When perched, it wags its tail constantly. This bird feeds by taking short, quick flights to skim the water’s surface and snag an insect.

5. California Towhee
This california Towhee looks basically like a larger sparrow, sharing the beak designed for seed cracking, the long tail, and the short, round wings. Their longer tail and shorter wings, however, give them a less graceful look while they’re in flight. This bird is unique in its uniform, matte brown coloring across the entire body.

6. Mourning Dove
One of the most famous and widespread doves of North America, the mourning Dove can be often seen in urban areas perching on telephone wires. It is named after its distinctive, plaintive-sounding song. It is also a popular game bird, but its population is still abundant thanks to the prolific breeding and its ability to raise up to five to six broods in a single year.

7. California Scrub-jay
California Scrub-jays prefer to live in dry shrublands, oak forests, and treed backyards. These are mischievous little birds that like to steal acorns from Woodpecker hiding spots. However, when the scrub jays hide the acorns in a new spot they rarely remember where they've hidden them! It's a lose-lose situation. When not stealing acorns they like to spend time eating ticks and other parasites off the backs of mule deer. The deer seem to appreciate the attention and often hold up their ears to give the jays access.

8. Red-tailed Hawk
Perched high in trees, the red-tailed Hawk watches for its prey: mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, large insects, and occasionally fish. It's the most common hawk in North America. Highly territorial and monogamous, the red-tailed Hawk is relatively long-lived. Many of them die young, but those who survive can live up to 20 years.

9. Acorn Woodpecker
The adult acorn woodpecker has a brownish-black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly and rump. The eyes are white. There is a small part on the small of their backs where there are some green feathers. The adult male has a red cap starting at the forehead, whereas females have a black area between the forehead and the cap. The white neck, throat, and forehead patches are distinctive identifiers. When flying, they take a few flaps of their wings and drop a foot or so. White circles on their wings are visible when in flight. Acorn woodpeckers have a call that sounds almost like they are laughing. Measurements: Length: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm) Weight: 2.3-3.2 oz (65-90 g) Wingspan: 13.8-16.9 in (35-43 cm)


10. Common Raven
The common Raven is one of the most ubiquitous species of birds and is revered for its high intelligence. These birds prefer open habitats, but can be found in nearly all environmental conditions besides rainforests. As a social species, some subspecies of common Raven have been known to have 15 to 33 different categories of calls!

11. Anna's Hummingbird
This hardy bird is a common sight along the Pacific Coast, with a bright, vibrant coloring that is anything but common. Look for their emerald feathers and soft pink throats, which gives them the appearance of a flying jewel. Anna's Hummingbird is more vocal than other hummingbirds, with a buzzy song you may hear from the males when they are perched.

12. Yellow-rumped Warbler
The foraging yellow-rumped Warbler is quick-moving and appealingly colored. Both male and female are a sharp gray, with white on their wings and flashes of yellow on their rump (as the name suggests), sides, and face. Most striking about this bird is the large groups of them that spread across North America in the autumn season.

13. Turkey Vulture
The turkey Vulture is a common sight, especially around roads, where they keep a sharp eye out for roadkill. Seeing these large birds in the sky can often make you take a second look to see if it’s an eagle or a hawk. Here’s one quick way to tell the difference. When in flight, a turkey Vulture will circle unsteadily, with its wings lifted to make a V shape. Though they are not appreciated, they do the dirty work of the animal kingdom by cleaning up the countryside as they scavenge.

14. Spotted Towhee
The spotted Towhee is a large sparrow found in sunny, open forests and recognizable by its distinctive two-footed hop. A ground dweller, it scratches the ground in search of food. Regarded as an extremely vocal bird, its song varies according to geographical location. During the breeding season, the male spends more than 70% of its mornings singing, trying to attract the female.

15. White-crowned Sparrow
This common sparrow has a white crown atop its head, which gave it its name, as well as a neat pattern down its wings and a long tail. Some groups of white-crowned Sparrows migrate, while others remain in coastal habitats year-round. Across different groups of these birds are different song “dialects” which are widely studied.

16. Eurasian Collared-dove
This plump, pretty dove with a square-tipped tail is known for bobbing its head and flicking its tail while walking. Though nice to look at, many people are not pleased at the sight of a eurasian Collared-dove walking along. In North America they are considered an invasive species, and one that carries a disease-creating parasite that can spread to native dove populations through birdbaths, feeders, or even through hawks preying on them.

17. Northern Mockingbird
The northern Mockingbird is able to mimic the sound of more than 30 bird species, but this master mocker has also been known to imitate the sounds of a whistle, frog call, or a dog's bark. The mimicry keeps other birds out of the mockingbird's territory, but it also plays an important role in courtship - the male with the best mimicking skills is the most attractive to females. You will often hear this mockingbird singing on moonlit nights. Widespread throughout the US, the northern Mockingbird is a state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

18. Bushtit
The social bushtit can often be found in deciduous and mixed forests as well as in home gardens and backyards. They have a characteristic upside-down feeding behavior as they search for spiders and insects on the undersides of leaves. These birds like to decorate their nests with flowers and lichens.

19. Western Bluebird
The colorful western Bluebird lives on the edge of coniferous and deciduous forests, usually in hollowed-out trees where there is plenty of room to perch; these birds will become especially territorial over nesting areas but are relaxed otherwise. Interestingly, nesting western Bluebirds have been documented receiving help from other birds of the species, most likely unintentionally.

20. Dark-eyed Junco
One of the most common birds of North America, the dark-eyed Junco lives in flocks in open forests, but it's very common in urban areas. This a highly variable species consists of at least five subspecies. This ground bird is often seen during winter, so it's sometimes called the "Snowbird," although it shares the nickname with the Snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis).